Dirty Dancing (1987)

It’s that time again - Soundtrack Saturday! 


Have you ever been watching a movie and thought to yourself, “Hey, this is some pretty good music here!”?   That is what this theme is all about. Soundtracks from movies. 


Wikipedia says this about the movie:

Dirty Dancing is a 1987 American romantic drama dance film written by Eleanor Bergstein, produced by Linda Gottlieb, and directed by Emile Ardolino. It stars Jennifer Grey as Frances "Baby" Houseman, a young woman who falls in love with dance instructor Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze) at a holiday resort.

The film was based on screenwriter Eleanor Bergstein's own childhood. She originally wrote a screenplay for the Michael Douglas film It's My Turn, but ultimately ended up conceiving a story for a film which became Dirty Dancing. She finished the script in 1985, but management changes at MGM put the film in development hell. The production company was changed to Vestron Pictures with Emile Ardolino as director and Linda Gottlieb as producer. Filming took place in Lake Lure, North Carolina, and Mountain Lake, Virginia, with the film's score composed by John Morris and dance choreography by Kenny Ortega.

Dirty Dancing premiered at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival on May 12, 1987, and was released on August 21, 1987, in the United States, earning over $214 million worldwide. It was the first film to sell more than a million copies for home video, and its soundtrack created by Jimmy Ienner generated two multi-platinum albums and multiple singles, including "(I've Had) The Time of My Life", which won both the Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Original Song and a Grammy Award for best duet. The film's popularity led to an unrelated 2004 prequel, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, and a stage version which has had sellout performances in Australia, Europe, and North America. A made-for-TV remake was also released in 2017




The Plot:


In the summer of 1963, Frances Houseman, nicknamed Baby, is vacationing with her parents, Jake and Marjorie Houseman, and her older sister Lisa, at Kellerman's, an upscale Catskills resort which is owned by Max, Jake's friend. Exploring one night, Baby secretly observes Max instructing the waiters, all Ivy League students, to romance the guests' daughters, no matter how unattractive. She also sees Max demeaning the working class entertainment staff, including Johnny Castle, one of the resort's dance instructors. Baby is attracted to Johnny, and dances briefly with him after his cousin, Billy, takes her to one of the staff's secret “dirty” dancing parties.

Baby learns Johnny's dance partner Penny is pregnant by Robbie, a waiter and womanizer who attends Yale School of Medicine and who now has his eye on Lisa. When Robbie refuses to help Penny, Baby, without giving a reason, borrows money from her father to pay for Penny's abortion. At first, Penny declines as it would cause her and Johnny to miss a performance at another nearby resort, costing them the season's salary, but Baby volunteers to stand in for Penny. During her dance sessions with Johnny, they develop a mutual attraction, and except for their failure to execute a climactic lift (Baby hesitated at the last minute), Johnny and Baby's performance is successful.

Back at Kellerman's, Penny is gravely injured by the botched abortion, and Baby enlists her father's help to stabilize Penny. Angered by Baby's deception, and assuming Johnny got Penny pregnant, Dr. Houseman orders Baby to stay away from him. Baby sneaks off to apologize to Johnny for her dad's treatment of him, but Johnny feels he deserves it due to his lower status; Baby reassures him of his own worth and then declares her love for him. The two continue seeing each other, but Baby keeps it secret from her father, who now refuses to talk to her.

Johnny rejects an indecent proposal by Vivian Pressman, an adulterous wife, who instead sleeps with Robbie, inadvertently foiling Lisa's own plan to lose her virginity to him. When Vivian spots Baby leaving Johnny's cabin, she feels spurned and attempts revenge on Johnny by claiming he stole her husband's wallet. Max is ready to fire Johnny, but Baby backs up his alibi, revealing she was with Johnny during the time frame of the theft. The real thieves, Sydney and Sylvia Schumacher are caught, but Johnny is still fired because of his liaisons with Baby. Before leaving, Johnny tries to talk to Dr. Houseman, but is only accused of trying to get at Baby. Baby later apologizes to her father for lying, but not for her romance with Johnny, and then accuses him of class prejudice.

At the end-of-season talent show, Dr. Houseman gives Robbie a recommendation for medical school, but when Robbie admits that he got Penny pregnant, and then insults her and Baby, Dr. Houseman angrily grabs the recommendation back. Johnny arrives and disrupts the final song by bringing Baby up on stage and declaring that she has made him a better person, and then they do the dance they practiced all summer, ending with a successful performance of the climactic lift. Dr. Houseman admits he was wrong about Johnny and reconciles with Baby, and all the staff and guests join Baby and Johnny dancing to "(I've Had) The Time of My Life".


The movie trailer:






Do you have a favorite movie that has a great soundtrack? Tell me about it. I’m happy to share.  


See you again soon!   



Comments

  1. I saw most of this film but I am not one for it and hate her name, "Baby". The good stuff is dancing and the music. Forrest Gump is another movie that is overblown and Tim Robbins should have won the Oscar for Shawshank Redemption(he wasn't even nominated!) but the music is great in this film.

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